


PROJECT: Arclight | Prologue

by Lily_Rhonin



Series: PROJECT: Arclight [1]
Category: League of Legends, Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28444347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily_Rhonin/pseuds/Lily_Rhonin
Summary: Hello!If you follow mytwitter, you may know I've been working on something pretty fun with my friend and editor, MoonlightxRain! Originally, I posted teaser/prologue over onpillowforta few months back, but I've decided it's time to move it over here to Ao3, where it will be posted in its entirety as we continue to making progress on it's completion (which is still a ways off, but hey, new content, if you've not seen it!).Since Ao3 doesn't exactly let you have Prologues to your works, and I didn't want to completely retitle all the chapters, this is being posted as a standalone- the fic itself will be multi-chaptered, and probably contain a different rating & archive warnings, so please keep this in mind going forward.As always, comments are appreciated- thanks ahead of time!
Series: PROJECT: Arclight [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2083515
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	PROJECT: Arclight | Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!
> 
> If you follow my twitter, you may know I've been working on something pretty fun with my friend and editor, MoonlightxRain! Originally, I posted teaser/prologue over on pillowfort a few months back, but I've decided it's time to move it over here to Ao3, where it will be posted in its entirety as we continue to making progress on it's completion (which is still a ways off, but hey, new content, if you've not seen it!).
> 
> Since Ao3 doesn't exactly let you have Prologues to your works, and I didn't want to completely retitle all the chapters, this is being posted as a standalone- the fic itself will be multi-chaptered, and probably contain a different rating & archive warnings, so please keep this in mind going forward.
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated- thanks ahead of time!

It was testing day again. 

Ahri knew this because it was the same day that she was unable to watch her favourite streamer, one Hana “D.Va” Song, because she was patrolling the shores along Busan, keeping her people safe. Ahri wished she could be kept safe too, but like most things Ahri wished for, it was condemned to be naught but a useless dream. 

She could also tell it was testing day again because Warwick was howling in pain rather than in sadness. There was rage in these howls, rage that, if Ahri was honest with herself, terrified even her. She had no real reason to fear Warwick, and in fact considered him to be a friend, the only one she’d known for her entire life, but he could still bring fear to her heart, a quickening to her pulse that she was ashamed to feel. Still, she couldn’t help it as the fur on her tails stood on end. She knew she was next, and that only served to make her even more fearful. It was all she could do to not simply rake her claws across the floor, as that would only let the scientists know she was afraid, and that knowledge would make it easier for them to try to make it worse. 

The cold grey walls of her cell gave her no focus for her growing fear, the blanket on the floor with the tablet next to it that served as her ‘bed’, with a toilet and sink on the other side being the only things inside other than her. Warwick also had a tablet, though outside of their conversations, she knew not what Warwick used his for. The tablets were something she’d managed to pout, beg, and flirt her way into getting, along with some favours that would have made her feel disgusting had she not been so desperate to have something she could use to fill the time spent alone in her cell. The walls were soundproofed specially, thanks to her enhanced aural acuity, and the silence was unnerving, to say the least. Still, Warwick’s howling pierced even this, owing to the multiple frequencies it was reaching at once. 

Ahri considered it a blessing that she couldn’t hear him howl fully when he was being tested, as this much alone was almost too much for her to handle.

After what seemed like a small eternity, the howling ceased, and a few minutes after that, her cell door was opened. The man Ahri had come to learn was responsible for her and Warwick’s existence was here. 

Ahri knew him only as Dr.Singed, the lead scientist here. She despised him with every fiber of her being. She was certain that he knew this, despite the saccharine facade she put up for all the other scientists and guards. She’d tried to attack him, once. She’d landed a good swipe across his arm, but had received a cuff to the jaw that left her tasting blood and sprawled on the floor. What she remembered more than the pain was the smile on his face, like he was glad she'd tried it. That day, her testing was twice as long, and by the end of it she was almost broken, a far cry from the insurrection she'd been attempting before, and even as she lay there, she could see that horrifying expression of pleasure on his face. She'd been awarded the privilege of being dragged back to her cell and thrown in bodily by the smiling nightmare himself.

Now, months later, Ahri still found it difficult not to remember the lingering fear that had kept her awake for days on end, until she finally passed out. As she was escorted out to the testing area, she caught sight of Warwick through his still-open cell door. He seemed to be collapsed and motionless on the floor, but she could just barely hear his shallow breaths, and she let out a breath of her own she hadn’t known she was holding, quietly thanking...someone, anyone, that he was still alive after that. After all, if Warwick survived, surely she could too, right?   
  
The testing bay was the same as it had always been; a large white room, lined with holoprojectors and hard-light devices to generate whatever tools they would need to test her on that day. 

Usually, it was omnics, to test her combat proficiency, though sometimes it was an obstacle course, to test her reflexes and agility. 

Sometimes it was completely dark, forcing her to rely on her enhanced hearing to pinpoint threats and dodge, or find a target and neutralise it. 

Always though, there were consequences for what the scientists viewed as “failure”. Sometimes it was withholding food for the next few days, sometimes it was filling her cell with intermittent high frequency sounds, to keep her awake for days on end. Sometimes it was both. Always though, she was fitted with a collar whose sole purpose was to deliver excruciating pain. Sometimes it was high voltage electricity, sometimes it was restricting her breathing until she would almost pass out, sometimes it was a jab with a built in syringe full of a chemical that would wrack her body with such exquisitely agonizing pain that it would warp her perception of time; seconds would become hours and the pain wouldn’t leave her until she passed out. It wasn’t on yet, but she was already steeling herself mentally for when it was placed around her neck. 

As Dr. Singed left, she was left with a moment to herself before the orderlies would arrive with the collar and her instructions. When that moment turned into a full minute, Ahri was puzzled. When it turned into two full minutes, she began to contemplate making a break for it through the door. From her observations, it appeared to be automatic... although, it could have easily been controlled from another room. 

Before she could fully commit to trying to make a run for it, the alarms went off. Ahri had never heard them before, but she knew something was very wrong. She didn’t bother giving it any further thought, and simply ran to the door. It opened, and she sighed in relief, continuing her mad dash to Warwick’s room. This could be a chance to get out of this hell, and she would be damned if she didn’t give it her all to get her and Warwick out. 

A voice in her head told her this could just be some kind of extended test, but she quashed it. This was her best shot, and she was taking it. 

As she gathered her strength, she simply punched the electronic lock on Warwick’s door when she reached his room, her fist coming away bloody, but the door opening as the locking mechanisms shut down.    
  
“Come on, Warwick! Something’s happening, and we might never have this chance again. We’re gonna get out of here, or die trying.”


End file.
